Defender of Hearts

by Tanya Bird

  ‘I did. But since you both only arrived a day ago, I am hoping to keep you for a while longer. I am certain Lord Thomas will agree as long as we take extra precautions with your safety.’

  ‘Have you discussed the matter with the warden?’ Astin asked.

  Her eyes went to him. ‘Yes. And with the king. In fact, His Majesty even offered you as the ladies’ guard for the duration of their stay. The warden agreed.’

  ‘Oh,’ Lyndal said, her mind playing catch-up. ‘But what about the king’s safety? Surely that’s a priority.’

  ‘The king has an entire army at his disposal. The fact that the two of you are already acquainted will make the arrangement more comfortable for everyone.’

  Astin was oddly silent, no doubt thinking up clever ways to tell the queen no, absolutely not. In the meantime, it fell on Lyndal to speak up and save them both.

  ‘Kendra and I couldn’t possibly take the king’s best guard. Surely it’s easier to send us on our way and allow Astin—I mean, Fletcher—to do his job.’

  She thought her logic was sound, but Queen Fayre stared back at her as though she were speaking in tongues.

  ‘While I appreciate your thoughts on what is best for my son, I have some opinions about that myself. I would like to see him married—and soon. Lady Kendra seems like a bright young woman, but I cannot wait months for confirmation.’

  Lyndal looked up at Astin, willing him to object. How he looked so calm she had no idea.

  ‘Are the orders effective immediately?’ he asked.

  Queen Fayre nodded, and Lyndal tried very hard not to click her fingers in front of Astin’s face and ask if he had heard properly. She knew defenders were supposed to follow orders without question, but this was ridiculous.

  ‘Of course, your guests will need to cooperate if the arrangement is to work,’ Astin said, finally meeting Lyndal’s eyes. ‘I can only do my job if they’re prepared to listen.’

  That sounded much more like the Astin she knew.

  ‘As long as your demands are reasonable, defender, then I can’t foresee there being any listening issues.’

  Queen Fayre looked between them. ‘Good. Then it is settled. You and Lady Kendra will remain at Eldon Castle for the rest of spring, and Fletcher will be in charge of your safety for the duration of your visit. Now, I suggest you get some sleep. There has been quite a bit of sickness in the merchant borough of late, as I am sure you are aware. Fearing further spread, yesterday the king had those displaying symptoms removed. They are currently isolating in the lazaretto borough. I thought we might pay them a visit in the morning.’

  The lazaretto borough was where the sick went after they died, not before.

  ‘I’ve not heard of any contagious outbreaks,’ Lyndal said. ‘Scurvy is the biggest problem facing the borough right now.’

  Fayre nodded. ‘The symptoms reported are consistent with scurvy.’

  ‘Then why remove people from their home for a disease that isn’t contagious?’ Lyndal asked, confused.

  The queen mother blinked those sharp eyes at her. ‘Why indeed? Good night, Lyndal.’

  It took Lyndal a moment to register the dismissal. Lowering into her curtsy, she said, ‘Good night, Your Majesty.’

  Astin walked to the door, holding it open. Lyndal met his cool gaze as she passed him, marching straight off down the corridor. A second later Astin fell into step with her.

  ‘Go on,’ she said the moment they were out of earshot of the other defender. ‘Say it all now so we can be done with it.’

  He glanced sideways at her. ‘Say what?’

  ‘Tell me how my presence here has ruined your life, how the king will likely die because you’re being forced to guard two women.’

  He looked amused by the words spilling from her mouth. ‘It’s a temporary arrangement. We’ll all survive it if you do as you’re told.’

  ‘You can just focus on Kendra. No one wants me dead.’

  He sighed. ‘I’ll be following orders.’

  ‘Merchants aren’t breaking in to kill other merchants.’

  ‘Don’t be naive. Anyone can get caught in the crossfire of this strange war we’re stuck in.’

  They were silent a moment.

  ‘This is what comes of you showing up and playing the hero at last night’s feast,’ Lyndal said, unable to let the subject go. ‘Perhaps if you hadn’t been there she might have chosen someone else for the job.’

  ‘By “playing the hero”, do you mean not letting the king die? You do understand keeping him alive is my job, right?’ When she did not reply, he added, ‘It won’t be me all the time. I do sleep occasionally.’

  They rounded the corner of the corridor. Clearing her throat, she said, ‘We should probably lay down some ground rules.’

  When they reached her bedchamber door, he turned to her. ‘You’re going to lay down some ground rules?’

  She faced him, making herself as tall as possible. ‘Yes.’

  ‘Such as?’

  She gestured between them. ‘Such as giving me personal space when we’re together.’

  Exhaling, he took a small step back. ‘I need to know where you are at all times. If you need to use the garderobe, you tell me or the defender on duty first.’

  She crossed her arms in front of her. ‘I really hope you’re joking.’

  ‘I never joke about garderobes.’

  ‘I recall at least three jokes you’ve told over the previous year involving a garderobe.’

  His lips turned up. ‘Really? You remember all three?’

  ‘Yes, vulgar punchlines forever burned into my mind.’

  ‘Well, I never joke about my work. I won’t tolerate sneaking off. Like it or not—’

  ‘Not.’

  He tilted his head. ‘Like it or not, you’re stuck with me now. Let’s just get through the next six weeks in a civil manner. I’ll respect your privacy so long as you don’t give me cause not to.’

  She searched his eyes. ‘Sounds reasonable.’

  Astin reached past her and pushed the door open. ‘In you go.’

  Arms still crossed, she replied, ‘I’ll be sleeping in Kendra’s bedchamber tonight. I only stopped here because you did.’

  Grunting his annoyance, he reached past her again, tugging the door closed. They walked side by side past the solar door that connected the bedchambers and stopped in front of Kendra’s room. He let her open the door herself this time.

  ‘There will be a guard patrolling the corridor,’ he said. ‘If either of you need to step foot outside this room overnight, you speak with him first. I’ll be here in the morning.’

  ‘Six weeks,’ she said as she walked through the door.

  ‘Six weeks.’

  Chapter 10

  ‘What in God’s name happened here last night?’ Harlan asked, dropping onto the seat beside Astin.

  The bodyguard looked up from his bowl. ‘And good morning to you too.’

  ‘“Absolute carnage” were my father’s words.’

  Astin looked around the mess hall to check no one else was listening. ‘Didn’t help that I was half-cooked when I became aware of the fact.’

  Harlan watched him a moment. ‘I’m glad you were nearby for Lyndal’s sake. I was going to call on her but figured she needed some sleep after last night’s festivities.’

  Astin pushed his empty bowl aside and rose. ‘I’m about to head there now.’

  Harlan followed him out of the mess hall and into the morning fog. ‘Now I have the fun job of telling Blake that people were slaughtered at the dinner her sister attended last night.’

  ‘Shame I’m too busy to bear witness.’

  ‘Warden tells me Queen Fayre requested Kendra and Lyndal remain here under your protection.’

  ‘More fun news to pass on to your wife.’ He tugged the hood of his cloak up. ‘Did your father also tell you it was the king’s idea? I saved his arse last night, and then five minutes later he’s pretending he doesn’t need me.’
>
  ‘Probably wants you out of the way so he can conduct his shifty business with your stepfather.’

  It was meant as a joke, but the thought had crossed Astin’s mind.

  ‘Just make sure that bruised ego of yours doesn’t interfere with your new responsibilities,’ Harlan said.

  Astin stopped walking. ‘Bruised ego? Are you drunk?’

  Harlan stopped a few paces ahead and turned. ‘I know you. You don’t handle rejection well.’

  ‘One can’t reject something that’s not on offer.’

  Harlan laughed. ‘Admit it. It kills you that she doesn’t swoon when you walk into a room like other women.’

  ‘I’ll admit it bothers me that she gets up and leaves.’

  ‘Because you normally walk in and say something like “What happened to your hair?”’

  ‘A joke.’

  ‘And what about the time she was nice enough to cook you dinner and you asked if she dropped the pork into the salt bag?’

  ‘Another joke.’

  ‘It was quail, by the way.’

  ‘I know it was quail. That’s why it was funny.’ He threw his hands up. ‘Eda laughed.’

  Harlan exhaled. ‘That’s your comedic gauge? I once saw that girl use a decapitated chicken as a puppet.’

  The youngest Suttone sister was not without her quirks.

  ‘The point is,’ Astin finished, ‘Lyndal’s hair is always immaculate, and she’s a solid cook. I make jokes because we all know they’re jokes.’

  Before Harlan could reply, the warden called to him from ten feet away. ‘Is there a reason you are out here with Wright instead of doing your job, Fletcher?’

  Both men turned. Then Harlan looked back at Astin, waiting for his response.

  ‘There’s a guard patrolling the west corridor, sir,’ Astin called. ‘The ladies know not to leave their room without an escort.’

  Shapur’s scowl deepened. ‘Is that why the Suttone girl is wandering around the castle by herself at present?’

  Astin’s blood heated a few degrees. ‘Perhaps I wasn’t clear last night when I gave very specific instructions. I’ll go there now.’

  Harlan looked down at the ground in an attempt to hide his growing smile.

  ‘Perhaps a clearer conversation is in order,’ Shapur replied before walking off.

  ‘Yes, sir,’ Astin called to his back.

  The second he was out of earshot, Astin shoved Harlan. ‘Don’t you have new recruit arses to wipe?’

  Harlan only laughed as he walked off in the direction of the training yard.

  Wallis, the kitchen maid, blinked in confusion. ‘You want the whole jar?’

  Lyndal stepped past Wallis to where jars of fermented cabbage sat in a neat row on the bench. ‘Four jars should be enough.’

  ‘Enough for what, miss?’

  ‘Yes, enough for what?’ came a stern male voice.

  Lyndal almost dropped one of the jars as she spun around to meet Astin’s thunderous stare. She found a smile for him. ‘Oh, there you are.’

  ‘Here I am.’ He crossed his arms, waiting for an explanation.

  ‘I forgot to mention that I’m an early riser,’ she said, placing the jar she was holding back on the bench.

  ‘So am I’ was his rather unhappy reply. ‘If you wanted to visit the kitchen, you should have sent the defender on duty to fetch me, or at the very least had him accompany you.’

  ‘To the kitchen for some cabbage? That seems a tad dramatic.’

  Astin reached her in a few strides, his tall frame looming over her. She made a point of not stepping back.

  ‘This castle was attacked a few hours ago.’ His voice was a growl. ‘I thought you were supposed to be the sensible sister.’

  She was very aware of the height difference in that moment. ‘I am the sensible sister.’

  ‘Then follow the few simple rules in place for your safety.’

  Conscious of Wallis frozen in place watching them, she said, ‘If I apologise, can we move on?’

  ‘Spare me the empty apology and just do as you’re told next time.’ He finally stepped back from her.

  ‘Very well,’ Lyndal mumbled as she turned away from his glare to face Wallis. ‘Might you have a basket?’

  The kitchen maid glanced nervously at Astin before walking to the other side of the room to fetch one.

  The defender picked up one of the jars and turned it in his hands. ‘The queen’s carriage will be out front in half an hour. Where’s Lady Kendra?’

  ‘Dressing.’ Lyndal took the jar from him and placed it in the basket. Looking down at her blue dress, she asked, ‘What does one wear when accompanying the queen mother to visit the sick?’

  He stared down at her, not speaking for an unsettling amount of time. ‘Are you seriously asking me for fashion advice?’

  Rolling her eyes, she brushed past him. ‘Forget it.’

  ‘Lyndal,’ he called after her.

  She stopped and turned back to him with a tired expression. He looked very uncomfortable suddenly.

  ‘That dress is elegant and practical,’ he said. ‘It’s a fine choice.’

  The corners of her mouth lifted. ‘Was that really so hard?’

  Astin followed the carriage on horseback, through the gate and into the lazaretto borough, located in the heart of the kingdom. Kendra sat opposite Queen Fayre, discussing the dire food situation in Ireland, trying to sound worldly. The queen mother’s silence was a solid indication the strategy was not working.

  Lyndal was by the window, holding on to her basket of cabbage, seemingly tuned out of the conversation. Her gaze was fixed on the rows and rows of graves, many of them fresh in that part of the borough. He knew her father and brother were buried somewhere—as was his own father. He made a point of not looking, because the visual of his father’s grave never seemed to get any easier.

  ‘What do you think, Lyndal?’ the queen mother asked, pulling her into the conversation.

  Astin’s eyes should have been on his surroundings, but he found himself watching for her reply instead. Her blonde hair was pinned back and threaded with blue ribbon. She played with the end of it as she stared at the queen blankly.

  ‘We were discussing the loss of livestock in Ireland,’ Kendra said, helping her out.

  Lyndal nodded. ‘Yes. Any loss of livestock is tragic. But at least without walls, the Irish are free to hunt and fish wherever they please.’

  Astin wished he could have seen the queen’s face after that response.

  ‘The absence of walls makes it easy for thieves,’ Kendra said, ‘and is the reason their animals got sick in the first place.’

  ‘And yet, I’ve not heard of one Irishman requesting a wall be built,’ Lyndal replied.

  ‘Because they do not know any better.’

  Lyndal looked away. ‘Or perhaps they’ve learned from our mistakes.’

  Queen Fayre spoke up at that. ‘What is the answer, then?’

  Lyndal’s eyes went to her. ‘I think history has proven, quite definitively, that no one cares for the opinion of a merchant on this subject.’

  ‘But you are not like them,’ Kendra said. ‘You are just as much one of us as you are one of them.’

  Lyndal’s eyes met Astin’s, and he saw how much that statement pierced her. She might have had meat back on her bones and some nicer dresses, but he understood that every inch of that beating heart was merchant. She had lived in that borough her entire life. Starved, suffered, grieved in it. She wore the trauma of that existence like a crown of thorns.

  Astin pushed his horse into a trot and rode ahead of the carriage and other guards, past the muddy gravesites, stopping at the leaning huts at the far end. They were more like shelters built for animals. Risk of harm to those in his charge was low, but he still treated every man, woman, and child he passed with the same suspicion he would when guarding the king.

  Wasting people emerged from the huts, pale-faced and wary. Mothers held tightly to the hands o
f children, relaxing a little when they laid eyes on Queen Fayre. She represented hope for a broken system. Her timely return to Chadora had made her somewhat of a hero.

  The queen mother was first to exit the carriage when it rolled to a stop. As she stepped down, her eyes moved along the line of people staring back at her. There was no hiding her shock at the conditions these people were living in. Kendra was next, taking one look at the sick, then anchoring her feet where she landed. Lyndal looked like any other noblewoman as she elegantly took the driver’s hand and joined her cousin on the ground. The flash of shock on her face was quickly replaced with a convincing smile as she moved towards the merchants.

  Astin gestured for Kendra to follow, and she reluctantly moved to his side, using him as a barrier between herself and the sick.

  ‘You don’t need to hover the entire visit,’ Lyndal whispered at Astin over her shoulder.

  Normally the breeze in the lazaretto borough carried the smell of death, but Lyndal’s floral scent seemed to have taken over the air.

  ‘That’s the point of a guard,’ he replied without looking at her.

  She slowed her pace. ‘Must you look so serious, then? You’re scaring people.’

  Now he looked at her. ‘Good.’

  The queen mother wandered the length of the line, bowing her head and pausing occasionally to speak with people. She managed to maintain a sensible distance without being obvious about the fact. Kendra tried to mimic her gestures, holding a smile that did not quite reach her eyes.

  Then there was Lyndal.

  She walked straight up to the woman at the end of the line, taking hold of her hand and asking questions. Then she pulled one of the jars out of her basket and handed it to her. ‘Share it around. You only need a spoonful each morning. The symptoms should start to settle within a few days.’

  ‘What on earth is she doing?’ Kendra whispered to Astin. ‘Some of these people are literally bleeding from the mouth, and she just marches up and touches them.’

  Astin’s eyes never left Lyndal. ‘It’s scurvy. It’s not contagious.’

  ‘We do not know that. The king has isolated them for a reason.’